H2Oh LOW

Westmoreland mayor lashes water minister for poor supply

Karrie Williams, Gleaner Writer

WESTERN BUREAU:Mayor of Savanna-la-Mar and chairman of the Westmoreland Parish Council, Bertel Moore, is blaming the water woes affecting that parish on negligence on the part of the Minister of Water and Housing, Robert Pickersgill, whom he says is doing nothing to alleviate the situation.

According to Moore, the parish was being negatively impacted by severe water shortages in several communities, leaky pipes, and exorbitant bills being charged by the National Water Commission (NWC).

"It is really sad the way the Water Commission operates," Moore said during the regular monthly meeting of the council last Thursday. "I don't think there is anyone, from the minister down, who doesn't know of the problem we are having ... . I spoke right in front of him [Minister of Water and Housing Robert Pickersgill] a couple weeks ago ... and I explained the situation."

"A few days after that, I put out a news release on the situation. And you know, I am not seeing any light from him (Pickersgill)," bemoaned Moore. "I don't know what more to do for them to understand ... one day we have to take the bull by the horns, because this is where it's leading to."

His sentiments were also shared by other councillors, one of whom declared his readiness to join the mayor in taking the proverbial 'bull by the horns'. According to Councillor Milton Miles, of the Savanna-la-Mar Division, the time had come for political representatives to join residents in their protests against the Government for better amenities.

"In every other parish, we see people demonstrating for water [and] it is happening too frequent now," said Miles. "What is the Water Commission doing? If we have to tek to the streets, Mr Chairman, we have to go out there and join the citizens when they are protesting for water."

"It cannot continue this way, people are getting these enormous bills ... we see the publicity stunt in the newspaper, water turning on ... but what happen to this parish, are we being punished for our colour, sir?" questioned Miles.

The mayor's assertions come against the background of what he says was a recent statement by Water and Housing Minister Robert Pickersgill, claiming that 70 per cent of the water usage in Westmoreland goes unpaid for. Only a month ago, Pickersgill broke ground for a J$80 million project in the Cedar Valley community in eastern Westmoreland, to facilitate an upgrading of the potable water distribution system in a number of communities.

WATER NOT BEING PAID FOR

It was at that ceremony that Pickersgill reportedly said that 70 per cent of the water being used in the parish was not being paid for, a claim that did not go down well with Mayor Moore.

"You know the minister spoke ... that 70 per cent ... I think he says of the water in Westmoreland, they are not collecting for it," said Moore. "It may be right that 70 per cent is not collected for, but out of that 70 per cent, 50 [per cent] is wasted."

"And what he is talking about people not paying? People are getting bills and not getting water, so how must they pay?" argued Moore. "They have to understand these things, it cannot continue like that."

The representatives of the NWC, who were required to be in attendance, were absent from the meeting.

But on Wednesday, state minister in the Ministry of Housing, Ian Hayles, countered the mayor's assertions. He argued that Pickersgill had mandated that water issues be dealt with through cash allocations which would be made to councils islandwide, to truck water to communities, and that this would be done until the drought period ends.

"We had a stakeholder meeting in Negril a couple weeks ago [in] which we discussed the problems that Westmoreland would face in terms of this drought period. I came out of that meeting promising and making a commitment to the Westmoreland Parish Council and the mayor of Sav-la-Mar that we would send three trucks to the parish, in dealing with the drought situation. Second, we would be making an allocation through the parish council to the mayor himself and to the Westmoreland Parish Council," Hayles declared.

"We have thus far allocated $3 million dollars to the Westmoreland Parish Council between the councillors and members of parliament of that parish, to truck water across the parish for the people. Those are facts that can be verified with the ministry and the secretary/manager from the Westmoreland Parish Council," Hayles added.